New (remain) Alternator Coil Wires Are Dark & Grody

DuderMcMerican

Active Member
Mar 7, 2016
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Woodbridge, VA
Stangnetters,

Today I received the reman 3g alternator I ordered from www.ebay.com--an internet auction online website. The exterior looks real purdy, but the copper coil wires are dark and grody (see pic). Are grungy coil wires a problem, and if so, is it a PITA to clean them? Is this an unacceptable reman?:flag:
 

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Take the alternator down to your local parts store and have them test it for you. If it tests good, don't worry about the color of the copper wires.

The supplier probably disassembled the alternator, cleaned up the outer shells and replaced any defective parts. Then he put it back together; looks pretty on the outside and hopefully works good. There isn't a simple method to clean the copper wire without doing damage to the thin film of insulation that coats each individual wire.
 
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Take the alternator down to your local parts store and have them test it for you. If it tests good, don't worry about the color of the copper wires.

The supplier probably disassembled the alternator, cleaned up the outer shells and replaced any defective parts. Then he put it back together; looks pretty on the outside and hopefully works good. There isn't a simple method to clean the copper wire without doing damage to the thin film of insulation that coats each individual wire.

Thank you!:flag: Glad i dont need to mess with it as long as it tests out.
 
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As is tradition, i took the part to autozone for testing and it failed. I guess i shouldnt be surprised at this anymore, particularly because this was a reman off some rando on ebay.

Anyway, i snapped a pic of the test result, and i wonder if someone can help interpret the results. The fail was koeo/koer light voltage. Does that just mean that the lights wouldnt be bright if i installed?

I can return the item to rando, and i surely will, but ima need to replace it with another by Friday. Is this a case when a part store unit would be fine, or would that just be asking for trouble down the road?


Sorry about pic being cockeyed. That always happens when i upload pics to SN for some reason..
 

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Dude- everything you buy off Ebay turns out to be bad. 3 TFI's and now an alternator...

Ha, yeah how about it.. After the fail, girl at AZ asked if it's new unit and i said yeah i just got it--never installed. She asked me if i'm super paranoid about gettin parts online or something and i said 'yeah always' (didnt get into the whole tfi debacle though.. Haha).

Any experience with part store alts? Thinkin ill go that route. Or maybe hit up the junkyard after work tomorrow and roll the dice again. What do you think?
 
Ha, yeah how about it.. After the fail, girl at AZ asked if it's new unit and i said yeah i just got it--never installed. She asked me if i'm super paranoid about gettin parts online or something and i said 'yeah always' (didnt get into the whole tfi debacle though.. Haha).

Any experience with part store alts? Thinkin ill go that route. Or maybe hit up the junkyard after work tomorrow and roll the dice again. What do you think?

To be honest, you will have better luck with JY parts or buying from people on CL that you can touch the parts, or if you can't then from guys on message boards here or the Corral- Mustang guys usually are not going to screw over another mustang guy on the same board vs. Ebay. Some parts just bite the bullet and buy new...
 
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